Chuck Close

PAINTER/PHOTOGRAPHER/PRINTMAKER

Project: Create a portrait of the artist Kara Walker

A photorealistic portraitist who emerged from a generation of abstract painters, Close has often imposed limitations on his work, as when he created a nine-square-foot painting with just two tablespoons of paint. Since suffering partial paralysis in 1988, he's overcome new limitations to develop an iconic style that combines the rigidity of a grid with fluid, abstract shapes. Close is at work now on a portrait series of female artists and describes the process he used to capture his fellow painter Kara Walker.

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Please use a JavaScript-enabled device to view this slideshowIn Close's New York studio, the artist sat down with his friend Paul Simon for a conversation about the creative process.